Friend-Builders
by JesusMaryJosephine
Summary: "Are you bored?" Jason hissed out of the corner of his mouth as Ms. Lupa began giving out the diplomas. "Sort of," Reyna whispered back. "Your face looks weird," Jason told her. Jeyna
1. Prologue

_On February 2, 1993, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano was born in the Hospital Pavia in San Juan, Puerto Rico._

* * *

 _On July 1, 1993, Jason Grace was born in Hospital Stanford in Los Angeles, California._

* * *

 _On August 29, 1995, Jason Grace moved to San Francisco, California._

* * *

 _On September 30, 1997, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano moved to San Francisco, California._

* * *

 _ **And on November 8, 1997, Reyna and Jason met each other.**_

* * *

 **S**


	2. Three-Years-Old

_Three-Years-Old_

If you looked around Hestia's Nursery, you would think it was a happy place. You would be correct. After all, most of the kids there loved Hestia's, what with the abundance of coloured blocks, pretty crayons, and mini slides and tunnels. Most of the kids there loved it there.

Except for Jason Grace.

* * *

 **Jason Grace** was, for lack of better words, a hella adorable toddler.

He had soft blonde hair and pouty lips (at the side of which stood a small scar). Of course, the piercing electric blue eyes were a little startling at first, but when you got used to him, you would probably smile at the sight of him in his tiny "nursery suit".

Oh yeah. And he was rich.

I'm talking mega rich. Like, wears designer clothes to _a nursery_ kind of rich.

After hearing this, you're probably asking, "Why on Earth does this kid not love life? Life obviously loves him, right?"

Yes, it did. But the other kids didn't.

Once again, I would like to stress on the fact that Jason wore a _suit_ to school. On _casual_ days _,_ he wore slacks and dress shirts. Basically, he dressed like a snob. This was probably because his father _was_ one.

Zachary "Zeus" Grace was the CEO of Olympus Airlines, one of the most successful airlines in the world, but being rich did wonders for one's personality. (And by wonders, I mean bad things.) For one thing, he slept around a lot, which was why Jason was the son of a lady named Beryl, who was dead now. Zeus was already married to a lady named Hera, who adored Jason but hated Zeus. Both of them decided that what Jason looked like reflected on their own reputations.

Basically his reason for his dressing like a snob. (Besides, no one wanted to argue with Hera Grace if they could help it. Arguments with her tended to end in pointless catfights and not a lot of people wanted to partake in that.)

Jason's suits were custom designed by a family friend, Adelaide McLean, who went by Aphrodite in the fashion industry.

So while adults loved him, kids hated him, thinking of him as a snob. They didn't play with him, share with him, or talk to him. The only time they looked at him was when they glared, and that was when they were giving initiation to the newbies.

 _See him? Yeah, that's Jason Grace. He's a snob. Don't talk to him._

This usually meant that Jason would be left sitting miserably in a corner, drawing something with a stubby blue crayon or playing with a few blue blocks.

And so it was for three weeks.

Until she came.

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** was beautiful, even for a toddler. She had long black hair, glowing dark eyes, and the regal physique of someone much older than her.

She also didn't give a crap about what other people thought.

That was why when a skinny blonde boy named Octavian pointed to Jason as if he was a cockroach, Reyna simply shook her head, disgusted, and tottered off to play with the blocks.

(She claimed to be building a war fort with only purple and black blocks. No one had the heart to tell her that there weren't enough blocks to make something as big as she wanted to.)

* * *

 **Jason Grace** was bored. Completely and utterly bored. He didn't feel like colouring, not that his tiny blue crayon _could_ colour very much, and building the same thing out of the same blue blocks got tiring really quickly.

He didn't want to go down the slide (it reminded him of water slides, and he hated water, unlike his cousin, Percy) or go through the tunnel (it made him feel like he was underground, which he also didn't like, unlike his other cousin, Bianca) and the only other options were drawing, blocks, and talking to other people.

He decided on blocks.

 _But where to get more…_

Jason noticed a girl in a corner opposite to him, building a fortress of purple and black blocks.

(Personally, he thought that grey would have looked better than black, but those were already claimed by Annabeth Chase, and _no one_ wanted to take her blocks. _No one_.)

He crawled over and took some blocks from the pile that she hadn't used yet, not asking because, well, no one had ever really taught him manners.

(Remember: His parents were snobs. No one talked to him. How the Hades was this kid ever going to learn manners? It's not like anyone had ever thought to teach him.)

Something prompted him to look up and suddenly he couldn't look away. The girl's eyes captivated him, holding him in an icy gaze. Her eyes moved down to look at the blocks, then back up to him.

Jason shivered.

The girl's eyes narrowed as she got up and walked away. Jason's eyes slid dejectedly over the blocks to the floor.

 _Alone. Again._

Just then, he felt something cold wet his hair and dribble down his neck. He shrieked (a very high-pitched shriek, almost as high as Octavian) and glared up at the girl, who was standing above him, a stern look in her eyes and a water bottle in her hands.

"Why you do that?!" Jason squawked. The girl rolled her eyes.

"You took my blocks."

"I not know they _your_ blocks," Jason pointed out. The girl huffed.

"They are." Jason frowned.

"I know _now_." A pause. "What your name?"

"Reyna."

"Jason."

The two kids shook hands formally, just as they had seen their parents do when they met someone new.

"Can we be friends?" Jason asked, hopefully. Reyna nodded.

"Sure. But we need rules."

"Rules? What are rules?" Reyna scrunched up her face, trying to explain.

"They… Things you do so things not go crazy. That how Mommy say it." Jason nodded as if it made perfect sense.

"Okay. What rules?" Reyna tilted her head, thinking.

"Rule Number One: No taking my blocks without asking," Jason smiled.

"I have better rule."

"Oh, really?" Reyna raised her eyebrows.

"Yes. We _share_ our blocks." Reyna tilted her head again, something Jason noticed she did a lot when she was thinking.

"Okay." They shook hands again.

" **Friend-Builders**?"

" **Friend-Builders**."

* * *

Toddlers -and some parents- took double takes the next day when they saw Jason Grace -the snobby kid- and Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano -the girl who hardly talked to anyone- laughing and playing together.

Aphrodite -who had come to drop off her daughter, Piper McLean- smiled as she saw the two kids.

She had a gut feeling that their fates were intertwined.


	3. Four-Years-Old

_Four-Years-Old_

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** was _not_ scared of kindergarten! Why would she be? She was a queen like her father had said she was, and queens weren't afraid of _anything._

"Come on, Reyna," Julian Ramírez-Arellano coached softly. "It's just kindergarten!"

Reyna shook her head. Okay, so maybe _this_ queen was afraid of something.

"Kindergarten bad." She looked up at her dad, her eyes wide. "I won't know people!"

Julian shook his head, chuckling softly. "Sweetie, it's not that bad. You'll meet new people. It'll be _fine_."

Reyna shook her head adamantly. "No."

Julian sighed, looking at the dark-haired beauty who stood beside Reyna. "Bella, can you talk to her please?" Bellona's eyes crinkled as she crouched down to her daughter's height.

"Come on, _mi reina_ , you can do this. Queen's aren't afraid of anything, are they?"

"No, but-"

"Then you aren't afraid of this. Come on, Reyna, remember how you didn't want to go to nursery school but you ended up doing it anyway and then you liked it?"

Reyna nodded slowly.

"Well, kindergarten will be _just like that._ But, I guess if you don't want to go to kindergarten, then that's that." She sighed heavily. "I mean, Hylla's already gone through kindergarten but-"

"I'll go!"

Bellona's eyes twinkled. It was a well-known fact that Reyna and Hylla were extremely competitive, even if Reyna was only three-years-old and Hylla was nine.

"That's great, Reyna!" She shot a look at her husband.

 _Ha! I got her to go to kindergarten and you didn't._

Julian simply rolled his eyes and wondered how _anyone_ thought his wife was demure. (They didn't, by the way. Anyone who had seen her angry was probably scarred for life.)

* * *

 **Jason Grace** was scared of kindergarten and that was that. Nothing his parents could say would convince him, and both Zeus and Hera were _this close_ to just leaving him there.

But they didn't. Because, you know, they actually had souls.

(Also, when Jason was pouting like that, you just _couldn't_ disappoint the kid.)

Zeus pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Come on, Jason, kindergarten's not that bad," he said, half-heartedly.

"You lying," Jason scowled. Zeus sighed.

"Hera, can you talk to your son?"

"If I remember correctly, he is not _my_ son." It had been three years and Hera _still_ hadn't forgiven the fact that Zeus had cheated on her with Beryl. Honestly, Zeus didn't know why he stuck around.

"Please don't fight," Jason interrupted, his eyes big and watery.

Oh, yeah. That was why.

The two adults stopped their small argument and focused on the problem at hand.

Jason + Blank = The child will actually _enter_ the goddamn facility that is kindergarten.

Zeus was _this close_ to suggesting that if Jason would enter kindergarten, he would finally go skydiving like he had seen people do on TV.

"Alright, Jason. Here's the deal. If you-"

Turns, he didn't have to make a half-assed promise.

"Reyna!" Jason cried, suddenly, his blue eyes lighting up.

"Reyna?" Zeus asked.

"Reyna," Jason nodded. "She my Friend-Builder."

"You're what?"

Hera touched his arm, shaking her head. _Just roll with it._

 _But seriously. Friend-Builder?!_

Hera glared at him. _Your son is three-years-old. If he knows a girl named Reyna who is his Friend-Builder, then so be it._

"Alright, son, where's Reyna?" Zeus asked.

"There!" Jason pointed to a couple a little way beside them who were both holding the hands of a little girl.

Hera's lip curled up at the sight of the woman, and Zeus visibly shivered when he saw her.

"Are you sure that _that's_ Reyna?"

"Yes!" Jason nodded adamantly. "Reyna!"

"Yes, yes, I've got that," Zeus replied. "It's just… Her _parents._ "

"Yup! They're nice!"

If Zeus had been drinking water, he _totally_ would have done an epic spit take. As it was, he choked on his own breath -How was that even _possible?!_ \- and stared at his son in wonder. This was the boy who would eventually grow up and take over his company.

The boy who thought that _Bellona Cahira Ramírez-Arellano_ was _nice._

"Yes…" Hera said with a sickly sweet smile. " _Nice_ …"

"Jason-"

Zeus looked around for his kid and started panicking when he couldn't find him. Was he really that bad at parenting?!

"Hera, where's Jason? Crap, do you think we lost him?! I can't believe I lost my goddamn SON!"

"Zeus-"

"I mean, I know I'm bad at parenting, but I didn't think that I was this bad-"

" _Zeus_ -"

"Like, yeah, so maybe the average parent spends more time with their kid, but I am a _busy man_! I know Jason's young but can't he-"

"ZACHARY ODYSSEUS GRACE!"

Zeus shut up. Hera only busted out his full name when she was seriously exasperated with him.

"Yes, dear?"

A few people snickered, and one guy muttered, " _Whipped_ ," while another catcalled.

Zeus was like, ninety percent sure that he knew those people, which was a truly depressing thought.

Hera pointed to two kids embracing in front of them.

" _Your son_ is right there, hugging his… Friend-Builder."

Zeus heaved a giant sigh, full of relief. "Oh, thank God." So maybe this _Reyna_ girl was the Blank.

Then, his eyes shot open. "He's hugging _Bellona's_ daughter?! My son's going to get _castrated!_ "

"By Bellona or her daughter?" Hera asked, amusedly.

"Either one! They're both terrifying!"

"Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano is _four-years-old._ "

"I know, right? That girl is _scary_ for her age."

It was at times like this that Hera shook her head and wondered how on Earth people actually found her husband _mature._

* * *

 **Jason Grace** was exasperated. He and Reyna had looked around the _whole_ classroom, including the closet, toy shelves, and Leo Valdez's cubby and desk, as well as those of the Stoll's, but they _just couldn't find them_.

"Jason?"

"Yes, Reyna?"

"They don't have purple blocks here."

"What 'bout blue?"

"Nope."

"Not even _black_?"

"No. Just… Light brown. And besides, Annabeth's already using those."

Jason frowned. Junior Kindergarten had sounded interesting, fun, like an adventure, when Mommy and Daddy had explained. It had sounded even better when he found out that Reyna was in the same class as him.

But now that their blocks weren't here…

"Then what do we do?" He asked. "It's free time, but…"

Reyna got it. Their blocks weren't here. Sure, they weren't as interested in architecture as Annabeth Chase, but they got a kick out of designing different war forts and planning out different attack strategies.

" _Alright, I have water cannons here."'_

" _Well, I have… arrows. Lots."_

" _My side has a lot of shields."_

" _Reyna, what are shields?"_

" _Big flat things."_

" _Okay."_

Reyna enjoyed their games especially, seeing as her mother read a lot of Greek and Roman myths to her, claiming that they were ancient sources of literature and morals.

Bellona's husband was not as supportive.

" _Bella, do you_ want _our child to grow up thinking that she was raised by a she-wolf and then ask people who their godly parent is?"_

" _Julian, don't be crazy. She wouldn't do that."_

" _Erm… Your name is literally Bellona."_

" _And?"_

" _And that's the name of a goddess. She probably thinks you're immortal now."_

" _That is_ one person _."_

" _Jason's father goes by Zeus, Nico's goes by Hades, Percy's goes by Poseidon, Annabeth's mother's name is Athena-" A pause. "Wow."_

" _I know."_

" _Bella, we're surrounded by Greek mythology."_

" _Well, at least it'll give the kids an interesting childhood."_

"Interesting _doesn't begin to cover it. I just realized that Hayden's wife's middle name is Persephone."_

" _Dear Lord."_

" _I thought you were an atheist!"_

" _Desperate times call for desperate measures."_

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** was so bored it wasn't even funny. She and Jason sat side by side, looking around at the classroom and wondering what they could do.

"Do you think we can go outside?" Jason asked. The had tricycles in a shed in the small enclosed area outside, where they went outside to play.

"No. Ms. Lupa isn't outside."

"Oh, yeah."

"Mhm," Reyna nodded, copying something she had seen her mother do before. "Mhm." It was fun.

"What are you doing?"

She frowned. "I don't know."

"Then why are you doing it?" Reyna tilted her head, pondering over the question. Why _did_ she do it?

"It's fun."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

There was a small, awkward pause. Usually, there weren't any pauses until ceasefire, but now there were no blocks, so Jason and Reyna were relying solely on their conversation skills, which weren't the best.

Reyna wasn't the most social of people, and Jason's conversation starters were _way_ too formal. (For, like, the third time: ZEUS AND HERA AS PARENTS.)

"We don't talk to each other much, do we?" Jason finally realized.

"No… We don't," Reyna agreed, with the air of someone who had just had an epiphany.

"Why don't we?" Jason asked, confused. "I mean, most people usually know a lot about each other after knowing each other since nursery school. Right? I mean, I think they do. That's what it seems like. I mean, well, I guess- Is what I'm saying even making sense?"

Reyna shook her head. "No." Jason pouted, looking crestfallen.

"You should be nicer."

"Why?"

"Hera says that all boys like nice girls."

"Hera's your… step-mom?"

"Yeah." Jason sighed. He didn't like Hera very much, even if she smiled at him a lot. (Those smiles were _so_ fake.)

"Oh. Do you like her?"

"Not really."

"Well then. I don't care what she thinks. I'm not ever going to change myself for a _boy_." Jason frowned and Reyna noticed. "Sorry. Didn't mean to make it sound like an insult." Her eyes widened. "See? I apologized! I'm not _that_ mean."

"I didn't say you were mean."

"Good." Reyna turned to look at him, her dark eyes drilling into his own eyes.

"Do _you_ like me?"

"Like, like-like or just like?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Too many likes. _Way_ too many likes. But, like, only one like."

"Oh." Jason breathed, relieved. "Well then yes, I do like you."

"And you're a boy, right?"

"Yes…?" Jason rose his eyebrows, unsure what she was getting at.

"Well then, I just proved your step-mom wrong," Reyna said, crossing her arms and looking quite proud of herself."

"What do you mean?"

"Hera says that all boys like nice girls, but you're a boy and you like me, and I'm not that nice."

Jason smiled. "I guess you're right… But you haven't answered my first question yet."

"What question?"

"You know. The "Why don't we know each other that well?" one."

"I don't think that's _really_ true," Reyna said, after a bit. "I mean, I know that you like using swords better than arrows and that whenever we give our soldiers godly powers you give them Zeus's."

"But, I mean, _other_ than War Forts. What then?"

"Um…" Reyna raised her eyebrows. "I guess you're right. We just never… Talked to each other much. We were too interested in War Fort's."

"Hm… We need to change that," Jason declared.

"Okay."

There was another small pause before Jason broke it.

"What's your favourite colour?"

"Um…" Reyna tilted her head. "Purple. What about yours?"

"Blue," Jason said immediately.

"Like the sky?" Reyna asked, pointing out the window.

"Nope. Like my sister's eyes," Jason replied. "El-lec-tric," he said, sounding the word out.

"Oh. Your sister must have nice eyes." Jason nodded empathetically.

"She does." Jason tilted his head -something he had picked up from Reyna. "You have a sister too, right?"

"Yup!" Reyna nodded. "Her name's Hylla. She's ten."

"Oh. My sister's eleven."

"What's her name."

"Thalia."

"That's a pretty name."

"So's Hylla."

"Yup."

Jason smiled, a bright smile that made Reyna instantly suspicious.

"So is Reyna." They were four-years-old and Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano could already tell that Jason Grace would be what her mother called a "playboy" when he grew up.


	4. Five-Years-Old

_Five-Years-Old_

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** did not like dresses. They were stuffy, and uncomfortable, and you couldn't sit down properly without showing your underwear. (And my properly, Reyna meant so that you dress wasn't riding up on your thighs.)

However, it was graduation day (for kindergarten) and apparently that meant you had to wear a dress. Reyna was going to hunt down the idiot that had made that rule. (The scowl on her small face unnerved even her father, who was married to _Bellona_ which meant that he was subject to a lot of scowls.)

"Mommy, why do I have to wear a dress?" She whined.

"It's graduation, Reyna," Bellona said gently. "That means that you have to look nice.

All the other girls will be wearing dresses too."

"Can't I look nice in jeans?" Reyna asked. Her mother sighed.

"Believe me, _reina_ , I asked _my_ mother that my whole life. It never did work." She

ruffled her daughter's hair. "But, come on, the minute we get home you can take it off. Okay?" When her daughter pouted, Bellona sighed and added a bribe. "And then I'll take you out to that cafe that you like and we can get hot chocolate."

Reyna tilted her head for a second, her eyes furrowed as she considered her options. Her mother tried not to smile at the serious expression on such a young face that still had baby fat and wavy tendrils of hair.

"When are we coming home?" She asked, after a moment. Bellona sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Reyna, this is your graduation. Don't you want to at _least_ try to enjoy it?"

"I could enjoy it better in _pants_ …" Reyna taunted, looking up at her mother with wide eyes. Bellona rubbed her temples.

" _Julian!"_

* * *

 **Jason Grace** didn't really mind suits. After all, his parents had made him wear them for the majority of his life, (his five-year long life, but still) and he had learned to live with them.

But _this?_

Jason was old enough to know when someone looked like they were trying too hard.

This looked like a _torture_ _device_. There were cufflinks and slacks and a tie that was tied _really weirdly_ and a vest and a weird-coloured shirt and shiny shoes and he was only _five-years-old_ who _wore_ this kind of stuff when they were _five-years-old?_

"No," he said, shaking his head abruptly. "No, no, no, no, _no_."

"Jason, honey-" Hera started, kneeling down.

"No," he interrupted, shaking his firmly. "That looks weird and I don't want to wear it."

"Now, Jason, come on-" Hera tried again, but Jason wasn't having any of it.

"I don't want it, it looks weird, and no one _else_ ever wears things like that."

"Jason, it's _good_ to be different, we've taught you that." Jason scowled.

"Yeah, but that's a _bad_ kind of different. When I wear that I look mean."

"Jason, you _never_ look mean-"

"When I dressed like that, no one wanted to be my friend at nursery school!"

"You probably don't really remember it all that well, sweetie, plenty of kids wanted to be friends with you! Remember, you had Reyna, and Octavian, and Percy, and-"

" _No_ ," Jason interrupted. "Octavian was mean and Percy played with Grover and Annabeth and the only person who played with me was Reyna."

"Well that's still someone," Hera said hopefully.

"Yeah, but that's because _Reyna's_ different," Jason replied. And Hera didn't have anything to say to that.

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** was bored out of her mind.

"Are you bored?" Jason hissed out of the corner of his mouth as Ms. Lupa began giving out the diplomas.

"Sort of," Reyna whispered back.

"Your face looks sort of weird," Jason told her. Reyna discreetly kicked him in the leg. Jason winced.

"Your clothes look weird," Reyna told him before he could apologize.

"My parents made me," Jason grimaced. "I didn't want to wear it."

"I didn't want to wear this dress," Reyna said, scowling down at the flowery fabric. "But my parents made me wear it too."

They both sighed and waited as Ms. Lupa handed Dakota Campbell his diploma.

"Does my face really look weird?" Reyna asked for a moment.

"Just… Sort of… Like you're itchy or something." Reyna rearranged her face then turned back to Jason.

"Better?"

Her eyebrows were still a bit too furrowed and her face a bit too scrunched up but Reyna hated dresses and sitting still for way too long and Jason had a feeling that this was the best he could get. So he tilted his head and said-

"Not totally, but better."

Reyna tried harder but now she looked prim and sophisticated, without the furrowedness and the scrunchiness.

"I liked you better before," he whispered. Reyna scowled and decided to just relax. When Gwendolyn Harper (Gwen, to everyone else) went up to get her diploma, Reyna's eyebrows were sort of furrowed and her face was sort of scrunchy but Jason didn't say anything because this was perfect.

* * *

 **Jason Grace** looked up when Ms. Lupa called his name and walked up to his teacher and the principal. The adults cooed at his outfit and a few of the kids snickered and pointed, a few wearing envious sneers until they suddenly stopped. Jason turned around, curious, and grinned broadly at what he saw.

His best friend Reyna was shooting all the kids who laughed piercing glares from her dark eyes. The snickers stopped abruptly and Jason smiled as he received his diploma because _yes_ what he was wearing was ridiculous and _yes_ he would rather wear nice pants and a dress shirt like the other boys but the _other_ boys didn't have a friend like Reyna so _yes_ Jason was glad for her.

 _He shot glares at everyone who laughed at Reyna's dress because she still managed to pull it off even with the scrunchiness and furrowedness because she was_ Reyna _and did_ anyone _expect anything different?_

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** only lost the annoyed look on her face when she ran upstairs to her bedroom and changed into leggings and a T-Shirt. Bellona chuckled lightly as she saw her daughter hugging her familiar, none poofy clothes - _No,_ she wasn't one of Aphrodite's daughters, even though Piper had always been a little bit different- because honestly, who _wouldn't?_ (Laugh, she meant, not hug clothes.)

Reyna was just glad that she was out of the dress.


	5. Six-Years-Old

_Six-Years-Old_

 **Jason Grace** was pretty sure he was ready for grade one. Apparently you had to do more work than kindergarten, which he was pretty sure he could handle it. Kindergarten hadn't been that hard. He had spent most of it colouring with Reyna or playing with Reyna or reading. That last one was _sometimes_ spent with Reyna who could read a bit better than him. Thalia had made sure he said all his words right, though, that he knew his numbers, and she had managed to get their parents to calm down with the dress code.

He loved his sister.

Thalia was twelve-years-old (twice his age!) and she was sort of… What was the word people called her? … Punk. (Of course, people usually accompanied that with a sniff or a _hmph_ or a, "No, sweetie, don't look at her" which puzzled Jason.) Yes, that was it. Thalia was _punk_. She had spiky black hair and pale skin, with a splash of freckles across her nose. Her wardrobe consisted of black leather jackets with studs and dark skinny jeans, alongside T-Shirts that Hera did _not_ approve of.

Jason wanted to be like Thalia someday.

Maybe not full out punk, but with enough defiance to tell his parents that he was his own person. Thalia had done it. They hardly bothered her, whether she went out to hang out with Luke or stayed in her room listening to Green Day.

(Hera didn't let Jason listen to Green Day.)

Whereas Jason was hardly like Thalia. He listened to his parents and didn't fight back -that much- when they told him what to do. Jason might have thought he would never be like Thalia if it wasn't for her eyes.

Or, _their_ eyes.

Both Thalia and Jason had flashing electric blue eyes that almost crackled with lightning. Thalia's eyes gave Jason hope. She flashed those eyes at Hera and Zeus and Jason decided that someday he'd flash his eyes at them. He hadn't quite figured out how to flash his eyes, to glare hard enough that even adults believed him.

Thalia told him it was because he was too adorable. "You're too cute, Jay," she had chuckled, her blue eyes twinkling. "Maybe when you get older… Maybe then they'll take you seriously. If it makes you feel better, they don't take me that seriously, yet anyway."

"They don't?" Jason had asked, his own blue eyes widening.

"No, kiddo, they don't," Thalia had said, shaking her head. "I'm still twelve. Maybe when I'm older…"

"Older?"

Jason didn't think Thalia could get much older, she already seemed like a grown up to him.

Now he looked up at his new teacher who wasn't Ms Lupa but had freckles like Thalia so she couldn't be _that bad_.

Reyna walked up beside him with her parents in tow and Jason suddenly grinned. Reyna grinned back at him and Jason saw his new teacher with the freckles raise her eyebrows, probably wondering why he and Reyna were smiling at each other. People usually looked at him and Reyna like that.

"They're friends," he heard his father say.

" _Very_ good friends, Reyna's mother continued a hint of defence in her voice.

"Nothing more," Hera added, quickly.

"But nothing less," Reyna's father finished. It had almost became a small act for the adults whenever someone met Jason and Reyna. A package that came with the two themselves.

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** wasn't sure if she liked grade one. Her teacher was a bit _too_ nice, in the way that she hardly punished anyone. Annabeth Chase and Malcolm Pace found great fault in this, since it let people like Sherman Yang and Clarisse La Rue go wild.

Reyna was more annoyed about the fact that her classroom didn't have much order. "Lighten up, Reyna!" Percy had cried when she had complained about it to him.

(She was pretty sure he had gotten kicked out of school sometime around November for making something explode, so really, what did Percy know?)

Jason shared her sentiments, that their new teacher, Ms. Walters, was _much_ too lenient. Was it really so hard to send Leo Valdez down to the office? Or at least scold him for turning Drew Tanaka's Barbie into a Pencil Terminator?

The one really, really good thing about grade one was that it had _tons_ of blocks. In a big clear box at the back of the classroom were dozens of blocks, every colour of the rainbow plus pink, white, black, brown, and grey blocks.

Reyna and Jason made war forts with the purple and blue ones, Clarisse and Silena made spas for warriors with the red and pink ones and Bianca made weird skeleton things with the white ones, while Annabeth hoarded all the grey and black blocks and Leo used everything else.

Grade one gave Reyna and Jason more interesting conversations like:

"We should run for president!"

"Jason, only _one_ person can run for president."

"Then we can be the first _two_ presidents."

And Reyna couldn't really argue with that because she liked being first at things. (Though not as much as the twins Holly and Laurel Victor who were daughters of a super competitive Victoria Victor, a member of the U.S. Olympic equestrian team.)

Other conversations included how to defeat the Pencil Terminator (What had previously been a creepy Ballerina Barbie) and how pretty Piper's eyes were. (That was more Jason. Reyna had rolled her eyes the entire time.)

When she went home that day, Reyna had asked Hylla how to make her eyes prettier, since Hylla was thirteen and knew everything about makeup. (Her Home Economics teacher, Ms. Circe, had taught her.)

" _Reina_ , what on _earth_ is making you want prettier eyes?" Hylla had asked, concerned, as she knelt in front of Reyna with her hands on the younger girl's shoulders.

"Everyone likes girls with pretty eyes," Reyna had replied with a shrug. And it was true. Everyone liked Annabeth's cool grey eyes and Silena Beauregard's beautiful blue ones. (She didn't mention how everyone loved Piper's unique kaleidoscope eyes the most, and how Jason had used all the words in his six-year-old vocabulary to describe them.)

Hylla might have gotten the hint since all she did was pull Reyna closer to her and said-

"Reyna, you have _beautiful_ eyes and _no one_ has the right to tell you any different."

Reyna didn't say anything after that.


	6. Seven-Years-Old

_Seven-Years-Old_

 **Jason Grace** was so annoyed it wasn't even funny. He was in the same class as Octavian Filius -who hated playing in general- and he missed Reyna, who was down the hall with most of their mutual friends. Furthermore, his new teacher, Ms. Kelly, _didn't have any blocks._

This led to a pouty Jason slouched against one of the fences surrounding the field during recess.

"Jason!" Someone ran up to him. Jason looked up and his small face broke out into a wide smile.

"Reyna!" Then he frowned. "I'm annoyed."

"I can see that," Reyna snarked. "Why?" Jason sighed, getting ready to rant while

Reyna, sensing the rant, sat down cris-cross-applesauce in front of him.

"Well, _first_ of all, _Octavian's_ in my class. _Octavian!_ Even Bianca's little sister Hazel doesn't like Octavian and Hazel likes almost everybody!"

Reyna "mm"'d in agreement.

"And I might have been able to deal with Octavian if you were there too because I'm pretty sure he has a crush on you cause he's always nice to you-" both kids made a "yuck!" sign after this, "But you're not in my class either! So now I have one Octavian and no Reyna and even worse: _No blocks._ Then again, it's not like I have anyone to play war forts with."

Reyna patted him on the back. "Look, you'll still get to play with me at recess. Besides, this could be an oppor-oppor- oppor _tunity_ to make new friends! You can't just have me, Jason. Other people would be great."

Jason huffed. "Yeah, I know."

"Alright, who do you already know in your class?" Reyna asked all business. (She reminded Jason of her mother at that moment. He had seen Bellona close deals on the phone so firmly that it would have taken Athena Grayson _and_ Hayden di Angelo to _maybe_ sway her.)

"Well…" Jason tilted his head, thinking, not noticing how the action imitated what Reyna did a lot of the time.

"I know Piper," he said after a moment. Reyna winced.

"Anyone else?"

"Um…" Jason thought some more. "Drew? And Jake, I think."

"Okay… So, I'm guessing you don't really want to be friends with Drew?" Jason grimaced.

"She's not _that_ bad. Drew's just… Sort of…"

"Annoying? Air-headed? Flirty?"

"Ew! Where do you _learn_ these words?" Jason demanded, wrinkling his nose after hearing the last one.

"Hylla," Reyna deadpanned. "She says other words too, but when I repeat them Mom and Dad get mad. After a while, Hylla started pulling me aside and asking what I heard her say. Then she told me to never repeat it. And before you say it, I _don't_ think that Drew is any of those things."

" _Do_ you ever repeat it?" Jason asked, ignoring the second part.

"Nope, but I keep it for blackmail in case Hylla ever hears something that I don't want her to."

"Blackmails that thing where you keep information to make someone do something for you, right?"

"Yup! It's fun!" Jason raised his eyebrows.

"Really…" Then he paused, thinking for a moment. "Do you think I could use blackmail to get rid of Drew?"

Reyna laughed. "She has a crush on you. Isn't that obvious? Maybe if we could somehow get rid of the crush she would… You know, leave you alone." Jason nodded along.

"Alright, how do we do that?"

Teachers walking past the two rose their eyebrows at the intensity of their gazes as they plotted about something known only to them.

"Wait-" Jason said, after a while. "Does this mean that you're going to leave me for Drew?"

Reyna sighed, shaking her head. "This is exactly why the plan is going to help both of us."

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** was _so_ ready to put this plan into action. She sauntered up to Drew Tanaka at the end of the day with a friendly smile on her face -it felt unnatural but hey, what could you do?- and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hi, you're Drew, right?"

"Yes…" The pretty Japanese girl looked at her suspiciously. "And you are…?"

"Reyna," she replied. "So, um, I was just wondering if you wanted to be friends."

"Why?" Drew asked.

"I need more girl friends," Reyna said, rolling her eyes. "I've got Jason and Bobby and Dakota but I can't talk about girl stuff with them and you seemed pretty cool so…"

"Why not Piper?" Drew questioned, raising her eyebrows. "Everyone likes her better and-"

"I don't," Reyna interrupted. "I don't think Piper's better than you." She flashed Drew a smile.

"Okay…?" Drew said, nodding slowly. "We can be friends."

"Cool," Reyna smiled. "I can't wait to be friends with you."

"Reyna," Drew called as the Puerto Rican girl started walking away.

"Yeah?" Reyna turned her head, quizzically.

"Do you know if Jason likes anyone?" Drew asked. Reyna tilted her head, thinking.

"Maybe Piper," she replied. "But we're only seven, so I don't think we really know what _like_ is."

Drew nodded. "I don't think he likes Piper," she told Reyna. Reyna sighed.

"Drew, I know you-"

"I think he likes you," Drew replied.

Reyna just shook her head and walked away while Drew stared at her back, wondering how someone could be so oblivious, even if they were only seven. Maybe it was her mother's blood in her, but she felt a sort of tug that told her that Jason already had someone and she decided right then that her seven-year-old self could do a host of other things and none of them would entail chasing after Jason Grace, who probably had a special place in his heart for a certain Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano.

* * *

 **Jason Grace** stared at Reyna the next day. "I don't know what you did but thank you," were the first words out of his mouth.

"What are you talking about?" Reyna asked.

"It's Drew," he said. "She's stopped _everything_. She acts… normal around me and it's all because of you." He grinned. "So thanks." A pause. "But how did you do it?"

Reyna shrugged. "I just talked to her," she said. "All we did was talk…" She didn't mention the five words Drew had said before Reyna had left. Jason didn't need to know those. After all, they were only seven-years-old and really, what did Drew know?


	7. Eight-Years-Old

_Eight-Years-Old_

 **Jason Grace** was _so. Hot._

"I'm _sweating_ ," a sweating Jason complained as they sat in the grass in Reyna's backyard. Hylla was babysitting them and her friend Kinzie was over so they had to stay out in the backyard and not make any noise.

Jason made some more noise.

"Oh, calm down, it's not the end of the world," Reyna snapped. "Shouldn't you be used to this weather?"

"Not as much as you!" Jason whined. "You were born in Por-Por-Porto Rico."

"Puerto Rico," Reyna corrected. "And more specifically, San Juan."

"It sounds better when you say it," Jason told her.

"Of course it does," Reyna said, rolling her eyes. "I have an accent, so when I say it, it sounds like it's supposed to. But you have an American accent, so you just can't say it properly."

"What's an accent?" Jason asked.

"It's, um, it's when your voice sounds different because you come from a country where they speak a different language. Sometimes you can be born here but if you speak that language enough you sort of get the accent."

Jason nodded.

"Can you speak Spanish?"

" _For supuesto que puedo_ ," Reyna replied, rolling her eyes.

"Say what?" Jason asked, confused. (He ignored how pretty the foreign words had sounded on her tongue.)

"Of course I can," Reyna clarified. "I was born there, what did you expect? Besides,

both my parents speak it, and so does Hylla."

"Isn't your mom from Rome?" Jason asked, confused.

"She went to San Juan for a business trip and met my dad there," Reyna explained.

"Ohhhhh," Jason nodded.

They were silent for a moment as they looked up at the clouds.

"That one looks like an angry duck," Jason noticed, pointing up at the cloud. Reyna tilted her head, trying to see it.

"I think it looks more like an angry crocodile."

"It's a T-Rex!" Jason exclaimed.

"Actually, from this angle it sort of looks like one of those pegasus things. You know, the horses with wings," Reyna added.

"And magical powers!" Jason cried.

"What magical powers?" Reyna asked. "What kind of magical powers would a pegasus have?"

Both kids were silent for a moment.

"Well, he has wings, so he can fly," Jason reasoned. Reyna nodded.

"Really fast and really high up." (Thalia wouldn't like that, Jason thought mentally. Whatever. Reyna evidently did, and Thalia wasn't helping them create an awesome pegasus.)

"Um… He has super strength!"

"And he can breathe fire and shoot lasers from his eyes!" (Why are we turning him into Superman? Reyna wondered.)

"And his name can be…"

"Scipio!"

"Scipio?"

"Scipio."

"Okay. Scipio. Should he have a middle name?" (After all, Reyna had a middle name, Jason thought. His dad had one too. He himself didn't but he didn't mind.)

"Steve. And his last name can be-"

"Pegasus! Because, you know, he's a pegasus." Reyna nodded to Jason's idea as if it made perfect sense. Of _course,_ the pegasus's last name had to be Pegasus. What would they name it if they weren't?

"He's a good pegasus," Reyna said suddenly. "He's a good pegasus and he fights crime and he does good things and he protects… He protects baby animals and people and a bunch of other stuff."

"Yeah," Jason agreed, nodding empathetically. "And he has a gold sword. But it's a magic gold sword so when he doesn't need it, it turns into a… a… an ancient gold coin."

"And he wears a purple cape!"

"And he has a totally awesome looking tattoo-"

"-And two helpers!"

"But they're _special_ helpers. Helpers like no other helpers."

"Yeah… Ooh! One helper can be made out of gold and the other helper can be made out of silver!"

"And they can have cool red eyes. Oh, and the eyes can be made out of rubies!"

"Jason, they can be _dogs_."

"YES." Both Reyna and Jason loved dogs, Reyna slightly -and by that I mean _way more_ \- so Jason really should have expected her to bring dogs into the conversation. It's not like he didn't want dogs, though. It was quite the contrary, actually.

"What can their superpower be?"

Reyna scrunched up her face, thinking, her tongue poking out a bit.

"Not lying."

"What?"

"A lot of people try to lie to Scipio because he's a good pegasus and tries to fight crime and stuff and some people want him to not fight crime and stuff because they're on the bad side. So the dogs can tell when people are lying and they can, like, growl and tell Scipio so that he knows that they're lying. And then people tell the truth because they know that Scipio's dogs and Scipio will know when they're lying."

"That's a good idea," Jason complimented, grinning. "How'd you think of it?"

"I don't like it when people lie to me," Reyna said, simply.

"Okay. But then, how can they be made of gold and silver and rubies and still be

alive?"

"They can be robots. You know, like the ones that Leo's mom makes," Reyna replied as if it were obvious. Jason nodded when he heard her explanation as if it was. Then, he stopped, another question on his tongue.

"What should their names be?"

"Um…"

"James and Joe? Mark and Phil?"

" _No_."

"Okay, okay. Gold and Silver?"

" _Maybe_ …" Reyna said slowly. "But that sounds a little bland."

She was right. It did. Jason concentrated. "Maybe we could do gold and silver except in another language," he suggested. "Like, Spanish or something."

" _Oro y plata_ ," Reyna said.

"What?" Jason asked, confused.

"Gold and silver. You know, in Spanish."

"Hm… Maybe _oro_ but _plata_ doesn't really sound like a dog name," Jason criticized.

"You're right," Reyna agreed. "We need something more… Dog-ish."

They thought some more.

"Hey, wasn't Scipio someone famous back in ancient Roman times?" Reyna wondered. "My mom read to me about him. So if _our_ Scipio is Roman, then maybe we can give the dogs Roman names too!"

"Yeah!" Jason exclaimed. "Maybe we could name them Gold and Silver except in… Um… Roman?"

"Latin," Reyna corrected.

"Yeah, Latin."

"Reyna, what's gold and silver in Latin?"

"Let's go check," she replied. They ran inside, ignoring Hylla's "Why are you guys inside?" and her "Reyna, why are using Mom's laptop?" and even her "I'm going to tell Mom!" because right now nothing was more important than finding out what gold and silver was in Latin.

Reyna typed in Google Translate and soon they had _A_ _urum_ and _Argentum_ committed to memory.

When Jason went home and talked Thalia's ear off about Scipio Steve Pegasus the Pegasus Hero and Aurum and Argentum his robot dog helpers all the freckled girl could do was smile because if Reyna made him this happy then she didn't care what weird things they came up with.

Hera Grace, on the other hand, _did_ mind, but Thalia put a stop to that quick enough. Mix mood swings with Thalia Grace and you had one terrifying combination.

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** wasn't sure why her family was smiling so much as she told them about the good pegasus hero Scipio who fought crime and his ruby-eyed dog sidekicks Aurum and Argentum but it made for a happy dinner so who was complaining?

Bellona and Julian just loved seeing the bright smile on her face as she talked passionately about the character she and Jason had created.

Hylla just loved how ridiculously adorable it all sounded.

* * *

 **So, if any of you speak Spanish and see any mistakes please tell me because I don't speak Spanish. I can do a little bit of French but that's neither here nor there. Next up, our protagonists will be facing the horrors of being nine, so send in any requests you have for that age group, or just about any in particular. Ten, thirteen, fifteen...**


	8. Nine-Years-Old

_Nine-Years-Old_

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** was mad. Very, very, _very_ mad. If she were in a cartoon, she would probably be turning red right now with plumes of smoke coming out of her ears. Maybe her eyes would bug out… But that was an idea for another time. Right now she was busy glaring furiously at the boy yelling at Drew.

Reyna was supposed to stay by the wall (She had gotten in trouble defending Percy with Jason. Said boy was further down the wall.) but Drew was getting bullied and what decent person stood by and watched as someone got bullied?!

"HEY!" She shouted at the tall boy, who she mentally noted as Matt Sloan, a tall boy with eyes like a pit bull and shaggy black hair. Matt always wore baggy, but expensive clothes, as if he didn't care about his parents had money.

Reyna decided Matt Sloan was stupid.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" She yelled as Sloan turned to face her.

"Well, what do we have here?" He asked, chuckling nastily.

"Someone who thinks that you need to be taken down a peg," Reyna replied bravely. "Stop bothering Drew. She didn't do anything to you. Even if I wish she would have," she muttered the last part under her breath.

Matt didn't seem to hear her. "Of _course,_ Princess," he replied mockingly. "I'll stop bothering Drew because you _told_ me too."

"First of all, my name means _queen_ , not _princess_ ," Reyna started. "Feel free to call me queen, that is if it's part of your vocabulary." Matt gnashed his teeth. " _Secondly_ , my mother's a _lawyer_ and my father is part of the military. Do you honestly think that I don't have _any_ power?" She stepped forward. "So, leave. Drew. Alone." Each word was emphasized with a step.

"Looks like Her Royal Highness has some fight in her," Matt sneered his dark eyes glinting meanly. "Too bad it's not going to do her any good."

"Excuse me?" Drew butted in. "Did you just threaten my friend?"

"What's it to you?" Matt demanded.

" _What's it to you?"_ Drew imitated in a higher, nasally voice. "Okay, well maybe because Reyna's one of my _best friends?!_ You can practice your stupid insults on _me_ , but you do _not_ get to treat Reyna like trash. Reyna didn't do anything, so don't you _dare_ say anything to her."

Matt looked at her with something akin to amazement, as did Reyna. While Drew had shared some strong opinions with her, she had never been this outspoken.

Reyna decided she liked this Drew, the _real_ Drew, better, and shot her friend a comforting smile.

"I can sue you," Matt said, grasping at straws. "My parents can sue you and-"

"Look at me, genius," Drew snapped. "My mother is Adelaide McLean, also known as Aphrodite. You know, the world famous model-turned-designer? And my _father_ is Tristan McLean, the actor who starred in _The King of Sparta._ Who do you think is going to win?"

"By the way, this is _adding in_ my mom the criminal lawyer and my father the soldier," Reyna added from her spot by the wall, her tone taunting. Matt looked nervous for a second before quickly regaining his confidence.

"Then why isn't your last name like theirs?" He mocked. "Why do you have a different last name than Piper?"

"It's called being adopted, genius" Drew bit back, even though her voice sounded like she had lost a bit of the bite. "And if you knew anything, you would know that it's not an insult, so don't make it sound like one."

"What's wrong, your _real parents_ didn't want you?" Matt taunted.

"Matt, that's enough," Reyna warned, her eyes flashing.

"MY REAL PARENTS DIED, YOU MORON!" Drew screamed. She collected her breath as kids slowly turned around to stare at them. Piper McLean had a hand over her mouth in horror. Percy Jackson and Jason Grace both had the same tight look on their face that Reyna knew meant they were furious. Mitchell and Lacy McLean were both glaring at Matt. And Reyna? Reyna stormed forward.

"Matt freaking Sloan, because of you, Drew Tanaka feel like a piece of crap and you can tell me that it's not true but all that's going to tell anyone is how stupid you really are. If you even had half a brain cell, you'd know that being adopted is nothing something you insult people about, and you _definitely_ do not insult things you know nothing about. Drew does not need morons like you to make her life hell, she already misses her parents _without_ people like you to make her miss them even more. I know you probably have an amazing life, but there are people out there who _do not_ so if you could please _shut your mouth_ and _leave_ that would be amazing."

"Not even letting Drew speak?" Matt snarled, after a blissful minute of silence. "A great friend _you_ are."

"Are you still hating on Reyna even though you already know you've lost?" Drew asked, disgusted as if Matt was nothing but a pathetic slug on the bottom of her shoe. "You were talking about me like garbage a few minutes ago, you do _not_ , I repeat, _not_ get to suddenly defend my "right to speak". _Furthermore_ , Reyna is a better friend than you or your friends will ever be. She's actually _loyal_ and has an actual _personality_ , unlike your friends, who are just there to laugh like hyenas at your stupid jokes. Besides, you'd probably sell them out the minute it looks like one of you might be in trouble, just so that you would be able to get out of trouble." Drew shook her head.

"Just go."

Matt stared at them, his mouth gaping like a fish.

"Oh, and also, you can't sue us for absolutely nothing," Reyna added. "My mom's a lawyer, I know this stuff," she said, to back up her previous statement. Matt Sloan glared at her with his hate in his glinting eyes. Then he turned tail and left.

Reyna took a sort of sick relish in the fact that his usual pack of uglies wasn't laughing like hyenas this time.

Neither Drew nor Reyna was sure when the clapping started, but it did and now they were surrounded by a bunch of first, second, third, fourth, and fifth graders clapping at their speeches.

"What did we do that was so special?" Reyna whispered to Drew as they looked around at their audience.

"Stood up to Sloan," was the response. "It was about time too," Drew added, exasperatedly.

"Drew?" Reyna asked later that day, trying to catch the Japanese girl's attention.

"Yeah?" Drew turned around, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"I'm really, really sorry about your parents," Reyna said sincerely.

"It's not your fault," Drew assured her, right before she stepped into Reyna's arms and just hugged her for a while.

* * *

 **Jason Grace** felt like a huge jerk.

"I've been so mean to Drew but… But she-"

"But she's so strong, _I know_ , Jason," Reyna interrupted, firmly. "Why do you think I'm friends with her, Jason? She's amazing once you get to really know her. So stop pulling your hair out and try to be actual friends with her, okay? That's the least you can do right now."

Jason nodded and stopped pulling at his blonde hair.

"Okay. Thanks, Reyna."

The next time he saw Drew, she was hanging out with cousins Kayla Knowles and Austin Lake, talking animatedly about the piano and how annoying cadences were.

Jason decided that he would apologize later when he wouldn't interrupt a passionate discussion. So, with a happy smile, he turned back around in the direction of Reyna to tell her about Drew's new friends.

* * *

 **Man, I'm on a roll today. Three Meetings and now this. Anyway, I figured Reyna and Drew would make pretty good friends because they both put up walls to protect themselves, try to act strong, and are misunderstood. I also figured that since Kayla and Austin like music and Drew** ** _totally_** **play's the piano that they would bond over that. Hope you guys liked this chapter! Adios!**


	9. Ten-Years-Old

_Ten-Years-Old_

 **Jason Grace** was confused. Their teacher, Mr. Buchanan, was talking, and he was trying to listen, he really was, but his ADHD was kicking in and all he could think of was how shiny his desk was now that they had cleaned them. Looking back up at the whiteboard meant being confused and he really didn't feel like being confused so staring out the window it was.

"I'm not good with numbers," is what he told people whenever they asked him about his problems with numbers and math in general. "I just can't do numbers."

"Never say you can't do something," his father had told him multiple times. "You can do anything if you put your mind to it." Jason had scowled at him.

Multiple times.

Because usually after any of these talks, Hera would breeze in asking Zeus to do something and Zeus's answer would usually be, "Sorry, dear, I can't do that."

 _Do anything if you put your mind to it my_ butt _,_ Jason thought savagely. Really, it's not like Zeus did everything he was supposed to.

Thank the gods Reyna had problems with numbers too.

As Mr. Buchanan lectured on about numbers, Jason sighed and daydreamed about a world where he was good with numbers like Malcolm Pace, a world where the stuff Mr. Buchanan talked about made sense, a world where Reyna was in the same class as him because that would help at least a _little_ bit.

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano** had decided that she hated math.

"Reyna, you can't hate everything you're not good at," Annabeth sighed. "You have to keep an open mind."

It was easy for Annabeth to say that. Annabeth could see numbers properly. Annabeth could process the numbers because she was seeing them the _right_ way.

The numbers didn't blur together or fly off the page for Annabeth or Percy or Grover or Leo or _Piper_.

Piper's face swam across Reyna's mind, her sparkling eyes and her glossy hair and Reyna didn't know why it bothered her so much, why Piper's face kept on showing up, why it was an incentive for her to work harder-

But it did and it was and so she gritted her teeth and grasped her pencil and stared at her fractions and prayed they'd stay straight.

They didn't and she groaned and decided to call it a night. She imagined Piper scribbling down numbers and helping Jason because Reyna couldn't and told herself to go to sleep already because that was stupid.

* * *

 **Jason Grace** was tired and Jason Grace was quite obviously stupid and Jason Grace couldn't see numbers properly and Jason Grace made the mistake of telling Thalia that.

Who told Hylla that and they both talked about it and Hylla had issues with numbers too and Thalia wondered if it was hereditary but Hylla pointed out that Jason had issues with them too and somehow Lee Fletcher's cousin Ashton who was a doctor got involved and asked if he could get Reyna and Jason tested.

"For what?" Hylla had asked, holding onto Reyna protectively.

"Dyscalculia," he had replied. "I could test you to if you wanted. It sounds like you might have it too."

"What that?" Reyna had asked.

"It's like dyslexia except with numbers. Do you know what dyslexia is?"

Jason had nodded really really fast. "Annabeth has it and Percy has it and Leo has it and Piper has it."

Reyna had scowled a bit and smiled a bit and Jason didn't know what that meant but _anyway._

It ended up that Jason and Reyna did, in fact, have dyscalculia and this, on top of ADHD sucked.

"So that's why you have issues with numbers," Annabeth said thoughtfully when they told her.

"It sucks," Reyna said, frowning.

"You get used to it," Annabeth replied. Jason remembered with a start that Annabeth had dyslexia on top of ADHD and he realized that maybe they weren't the only ones in their school with problems.

"You know, I don't think you guys are the only ones with dyscalculia," Percy interjected, sounding the last world out slowly.

Jason frowned. "Really?"

"No, Percy's right," Annabeth said. "Gwen has it and Bobby has it and Dakota has it and Frank has it and I think Bianca's half-sister Hazel has it."

"Huh," Jason said slowly.

"Octavian has it too," Percy grinned, turning to Reyna. She smacked him with a pillow.

"Stop looking at me like that!"

"But Reyna!" Percy mock cried. "What if he _luuurrrrves_ you?"

Reyna tackled him and they tumbled across the floor laughing and Annabeth laughed and Jason laughed too but his laugh sounded a little off and Annabeth noticed and Jason turned away and focused on Reyna's laughing face because Octavian's crush was _not_ important.

Right?

* * *

 **Short chapter cause I'm a butt and I'm really sorry but the next chapter should be better and come faster? Idk, lets all cross our fingers.**


	10. Eleven-Years-Old

_Eleven-Years-Old_

 **Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano** was _so_ done with the sun and the grass and the special material that soccer jerseys were made of which made doing drills in the blazing sunshine just that much harder.

"FASTER, GIRLS, WE'RE NEVER GOING TO BEAT ANYONE IF YOU KEEP RUNNING LIKE THAT," Sofia Minerva barked.

Reyna gritted her teeth and sprinted, dribbling the soccer ball between her feet.

"RAMIREZ THAT'S SOME OF THE LAZIEST DRIBBLING I'VE EVER SEEN YOU CAN DO BETTER!"

Reyna swore under her breath and took a deep breath and _ran_ , her feet hitting the ball faster than she could blink.

She reached the end of the field and bent over, panting. Through the corner of her eye, she saw the satisfied smirk on Minerva's face.

"Not bad," her coach acknowledged. Reyna snorted, a sardonic grin on her face.

* * *

 **Jason Grace** _hurt._ Like, everywhere.

"Minerva's a beast," Reyna groaned, sprawled on Jason's bedroom floor.

"Hedge threatens us with a baseball bat," Jason complained, flopping down beside her.

"I thought you played football," Reyna said, confused.

"I _do_ ," Jason replied, huffing. "I swear the old goat's delusional."

"Goat?" Reyna asked. "Not that that's not a totally awesome nickname, but could I get some context please?"

Jason smiled. "Team inside joke. When he looks at you I swear to God his eyes constrict _so_ much until they _literally_ look like a goat's eyes. Also, he laughs kind of like a goat-"

"Where did you even _hear_ a goat laughing-"

"-That's not important, and his first name starts with a G."

There was a pause in which Jason could literally _feel_ Reyna asking herself why she was still friends with an idiot like him.

"Now I get the Stupid Jocks stereotype," Reyna commented after a moment. Jason curled over, laughing, then cursing because _ow_ his stomach hurt.

* * *

 **Jason Grace** was _so. Goddamn. Bored._

"I almost wish I had homework," he groaned, lounging on Reyna's living room couch.

"Math homework?" Reyna asked, raising an eyebrow. Jason tilted his head.

"Okay, you got me there. Still, I'm _bored_. We've still got, like, three weeks until school and it's hot as Hell outside" Julian and Bellona apparently didn't believe in air-conditioning, " _and_ there's literally nothing to do."

"Let's paint our nails," Reyna suggested. Jason looked at her strangely.

"Reyna, while we both know I'm amazing at that, you _suck_ at it." She threw a pillow at him.

"Okay, you can _leave_."

"Nah, your hotter-than-the-Amazon-rainforest house is better than my a-day-without-arguing-like-friggin-kids-what's-that house."

Jason scowled at the couch cushions and Reyna looked at him worriedly. "Jason-"

His scowl deepened. _Good job, Grace, involve Reyna in your crappy-ass family problems. She doesn't need that, you moron._

He thought of Hera shouting at Zeus after his father walked in late with his hair and shirt collar ruffled with another woman's perfume on his collar. He thought of Thalia slamming her door closed, punk rock music emanating from behind the closed door. He thought of Zeus disappearing for entire weekends.

Then he thought of Reyna's perfect family, with her parents that actually loved each other and her house that wasn't too big for the entire Congress.

"Let's bake something," he said instead.

"Jason." Reyna looked at him, her gaze firm. _Tell me_.

"Later," he whispered.

Reyna stared at him for another second before a smile crept onto her face. "Let's make brownies."

"We're going to burn your house down," Jason said.

Reyna grinned. "I know."

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano** was _covered_ in flour and sugar and was that egg on her foot? Baking powder dusted Jason's nose and his hands were coated in egg yolk and stained with melted chocolate. Cocoa powder was spread out on the floor, walnuts scattered across the tiles.

"We suck at this," he announced. And suddenly they were laughing, laughing at their friendship, laughing at the mess in the kitchen, laughing at how exactly they were going to explain this to Julian and Bellona.

The electric mixer dropped onto Jason's foot and he howled in pain, hopping around the kitchen, clutching his left foot.

Reyna just laughed harder because that was what true friends did.

(Eventually the brownies were finished and they had eggshells and were too crumbly and were misshapen and Reyna and Jason took one bite before spitting it out and throwing the entire batch out and in one glance they conveyed that they would never speak of this again.)

* * *

 **Jason Grace** somehow convinced his parents to let him and Reyna actually _leave their house_ and they ended up finding a hole in the wall cafe with the best brownies ever made.

Lolita's was amazing and warm and bright and Jason dubbed it _their_ place. He and Reyna shared two comfy chairs near the back, right by the windows.

"I still think our brownies are better," Jason commented, dipping his in hot chocolate. Reyna snorted.

"Jason, don't even try."

"Try what?" He looked at her, completely innocent with nothing in his blue eyes but confusion. "I'm sure I have _no idea_ what you're talking about, my dear friend."

Reyna sprayed hot chocolate from her mouth and glared at Jason with hellfire in her eyes.

He sprinted to the front counter and looked up at Lolita Diaz, the kindly old owner, trembling. "Napkins please."

* * *

Lolita looked out the front door long after the two children left.

"They're just friends, _mama_ ," her daughter, Valentina called, rolling her eyes with a small smile on her face.

"That's what you said about Marco," Lolita said, smiling at the handsome young man that had caught her daughter's eye.

They both choked, flushing red.

"Mrs. Diaz-" Marco stuttered.

"We _are_ just friends," Valentina managed.

Lolita turned away humming to herself, a soft smile on her face. _Ah, young love._

* * *

 **HALLOWEEN IS NEARING MY FRIENDS AND IM SO FUCKING EXCITED FOR IT OH MY LAWD**


	11. Twelve-Years-Old

_Twelve-Years-Old_

 **Jason Grace** was pretty sure his cousin, the one and only Perseus Jackson, was crazy.

No, scratch that, he was _certain_. Seriously, what _sane person_ wanted to go to a _spa_ for their birthday?

"They're not that bad," Percy muttered. "My mom made me go to one once and it was really fun."

"But… I mean… They're for…"

"For _what_ exactly, Jason?" Annabeth asked, shooting him a look. "Or should I say _who_?"

"You don't need to say anything at all," Jason said hastily. "Spas are totally fine and cool for anyone along the gender binary."

Annabeth nodded slowly. "Bravo. I'm going to go ask Grover if he wants to come."

"Think he'll come?" Jason asked Percy, surprised when his cousin nodded seriously.

"He's my best friend. He'll show."

Jason thought about those words for a long time afterwards. _He's my best friend. He'll show_.

He thought about Reyna, how their minds were completely in tune (most of the time) how he knew everything about her and she knew everything about him.

 _Well. Almost everything. If he didn't_ lie _all the damn time_.

Jason shook his head. Reyna was his best friend and hey, even best friends lied to each other sometimes, right? Besides, it was okay if they were little white lies that were made to make the other person feel better.

Right?

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano** was confused. Like, big time.

"A _spa?"_ Reyna asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Percy likes 'em," Jason said, shrugging.

"Yeah, no, I don't have an issue with _that_ ," Reyna said, giving him a look she hoped conveyed the What-The-Hell-Do-You-Take-Me-For-Some-Kind-Sexist-Bigot feeling.

"Then what is it?" Jason asked, confused. Reyna scowled.

"I… I just have a bad experience with spas, okay?"

Jason's eyebrows furrowed and Reyna knew he was wracking his mind trying to remember why she had a personal vendetta against spas. She almost felt bad for him before remembering how he had told her parents that it was _her_ idea to try to make crepes for breakfast, the traitor.

"Hylla's summer job," she said, finally, feeling a tad of sympathy for him. "There was that lady, Cecilia, who ran this place called Circe's spa. Hylla was, like, I dunno, fourteen at the time and she was _really_ good with braiding hair, because I was growing mine out and she made really pretty styles with it all the time. She applied for a summer job for some extra cash to spend on her own stuff and… It was all going great."

Jason let out a soft " _Ohhhhhhh._ The interview was fine but then on the first day-"

"Circe accused Hylla of knocking a pile of scalding hot wax all over Cecilia's pretty white dress. She was _furious_ because it would stain and Hylla wasn't allowed to go there anymore."

"Why do _you_ hate spas, though?" Jason asked. "I get Hylla, but why _you_?"

Reyna tugged on one of her braids. "Because Hylla wasn't the one that knocked over that wax."

She gave the braid a hard yank.

"I was."

* * *

 **Percy Jackson** guessed it made sense.

"Do you think she'll show?" He asked. Annabeth and Grover were coming. Jason was coming. Rachel was coming.

"She's my best friend. She'll show."

* * *

 **Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano** did show. She showed up with a bright blue gift bag in her hand and a bright bright smile on her face and it matched Jason's _exactly_ and Reyna grinned because that smile was worth it.

And they had fun.

The manicures were fun and the pedicures were fun and the cookies and brownies were fun and honestly kid spas were just about one of the best things ever invented.

There was no hot wax to be spilled and there were no older sisters to be fired and there were no scarily pretty ladies to fire the aforementioned older sisters.

"I'm glad I came," Reyna confessed, later, after Percy had opened his presents and she and Jason were alone for a moment.

Jason smiled. "I'm glad you came too."

* * *

 **Jason Grace** looked at the invitation. Then back at Reyna. Then at the invitation. Then back at Reyna.

"I'm not coming to your tween queen sweet sixteen summer beach bash birthday party."

"But you're my best friend!" Reyna squawked, outraged. "You're supposed to show!"

"Reyna your birthday literally passed three months ago."

"The _point_ is this was a best friend test and you FAILED congratulations, Jason Grace you're a complete and utter failure-"

* * *

 **OKAY SO FIRST OF ALL IM SO SO SORRY THAT IVE TAKEN FOREVER WITH THIS SHIT I HAVE NO EXCUSES FOR THE SHORTNESS AND CRAPPINESS OF THIS CHAPTER I PROMISE SHIT WILL GET BETTER SOON I HOPE UMMMMMM-**

 **Addressing the shortness now. I've decided that I need to stop forcing my inspiration and because of that some of the chapters will be short and some will be long but I can't promise that all of them will even reach the 1K mark alright? I'm so sorry guys but forcing myself to reach the 1K mark in every chapter made me drag everything out and made this story feel like a chore and I never ever want my FanFictions to feel like a chore so IN CONCLUSION my chapters are probably gonna be a lost shorter now**

 **HAPPY (late) NEW YEAR I HOPE 2017 IS LESS SHITTY FOR ALL OF US**

 **Also! I got a Tumblr! It's problematic-garbage and I have a PJO role-playing blog called totally-roleplaying. I'm way more active on there but you can PM me here or Message me there, I promise I'll reply unless you're, like, a weird stalker or something.**

 **Stay beautiful darlins!**

 **~Brie**


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